I don't mean "are DB's endurance tricks considered magic?" We all know they're not presented that way.
[And, incidentally, he is taking after Harry Houdini, who is the most famous magician of history and who is actually known far more for his endurance and escape acts.]

I'm just wondering if anyone suspects DB uses trickery to accomplish any of his past feats (such as staying inside a block of ice or holding his breath for a very long time).

I don't want to appear naive on this. Plenty of people in the general population suspect such things of a magician like David Blaine, and yet on the face of it he's shown no trickery involved.
He even gave a TED talk to an audience of medical professionals as to how he pulled off the underwater stunt, claiming he trained himself through exhaustive training.
I can't see why he would lie about such a thing.
But Penn Jillette made a comment on a podcast that implied it was actually a trick. (Making some sarcastic remark that David went from being a mediocre card magician to a guy who could beat the record for holding his breath. As if that was too much to believe).

Obviously these magicians are in a different league than most of us, and will never give away the truth (if there is any secret).
So all I'm asking is for your opinion, as performers, what do you make of David Blaine's endurance acts?
Magic or just amazing perseverance?



[Yeah I know, this topic is old & common, and could have been talked about before, but I couldn't find anything through search. So don't flame me for bringing it up]

To avoid litigation let's talk about a generic modern television street magician called Fred.

Over here in the UK we have a few 'Freds' at the moment. They are invariably middle of the road magicians who have been picked up by some production company with money to spare. This company creates a new performer from scratch. Currently a blue collar, man of the people look is in vogue and if you have tattoos so much the better.

They invent or embellish his backstory, create seemingly impromptu 'impossible' stunts for him...productions, suspensions, levitations, etc. etc. that do not look like traditional illusions; you will NEVER see these guys do a sub trunk or Modern Art.

Often these stunts cost a fortune to stage as there is a lot of custom engineering going on out of sight but you have to remember that although it will only be performed once by the magician the show will be sold on countless channels around the world for years to come, a steady income stream for the company.

Often their 'amazing miracles' are no more than a rent-a-mob crowd of stooges combined with 'creative editing' which makes anything possible.

Remember, the aim of the production company is not to present good, legitimate magic but to make a pot of money by hoodwinking a gullible public with a combination of special effects, huge numbers of stooges and trick camera work.

Fred is on wages, he is not the company but an employee. He knows which side his bread is buttered, so he does as he is told, pockets the money and gets the accolades. This also explains why so many 'Freds' are a charisma free zone with almost zero personality. The production company doesn't want it's star getting ideas about cutting them loose and going solo after all the hard work they have spent manufacturing them.

Google: Static Apnea (and Free Diving etc.) and you will find that the World Record is set by Stephane Mifsud (Fr.): 11 min. 35 sec.
So WHY is DB not on that list??

Because DB's record was for O2 assisted. There are two different records. O2 assisted and what must static apnea purists consider the real record by not breathing pure oxygen before their breath hold.

Harry Houdini was once able to breath under a frozen body of water, knowing that there were pockets of air between the ice which covered the water and the surface of the water. That said, it was still very risky, and did require training, endurance, etc. I don't think that escaping from a coffin in freezing water, searching for pockets of air til one finds the escape hole is just fakery! I think that David Blaine has figured out a lot of things/misdirection in his endurance acts; but I don't think he is just a fake. Perhaps he can't hold his breath for as long as he says... no big deal to us lying magicians! Penn Jillette has proudly called himself "carnie trash"; and there may be some of that in David Blaine as well. I like it all!
So while there's trickery involved, I believe it's also some real preparation. In a related note, check out the movie "Chasing Mavericks" about surfers who train to hold their breath... and yet some famous surfers have still drowned in the record breaking waves. Lynn

Yea that story about Houdini is not quite like you say.

There is no evidence to support it happening to anyone except Tony Curtis and now Adrien Brody.

Thanx for pointing this out! It led me to look this up! The story of his famous underwater coffin escape (from Detroit River in 1906) is as interesting as the frozen underwater escape myth. He apparently did the underwater escape NOT in a frozen body of water, but a swift moving current (ie where he could be picked up). However, there was no 'evidence' (aside from newspaper stories), there was no Mayor of Detroit to witness it, etc. And now, as you mention Adrien Brody perpetuates the myth. I still admire Houdini for his feats of endurance as well as his magic; but also realize there's myth in there as well! Lynn

It is more myth them substance. A lesson in and of itself.

Houdini understood PUBLICITY!